The cover tape on 0805, 1206 and IC reels occasionally does not pull back clear of the tape and our Fuji IP-1 stops. Although some feeders appear to be more vulnerable to this than others, is this a feeder problem or is this a material problem with the reels?

If this is a feeder problem could someone tell me what to adjust on the feeder to improve the situation?

It can be either - sometimes they put too much glue on the cover tape when it's sealed, and sometimes the feeder is not stong enough. We would get a lot of these on our fuji's after a shutdown, and they would diminish throughout the first shift, then be fine for months. Persistant feeders were sent to the sin bin to get fixed - depending on where you are in the world you can often get someone to come in for the day & check out your feeders.

The original IP feeders do a poor job of peeling the cover tape. Things to check:

-All teeth present on the take-up reel -Take-up reel has even drag as it rotates (reel out of round or dirty) -Take-up reel drag is not too high (locations and strength of spring on the drag lever) -Spring on reel advance pawl is good -Advancement levers not bent

PSA - Pressure Sensitive Adhesive? I don't know which type of tape the affected reels of parts use but it is not sticky.

Thanks everyone for the comments and suggestions. There were no missing teeth on the plastic take-up reels. I have cleaned and lubricated the two feeders that were causing the greatest problems and swapped the metal leaf "thingies" that slide back and expose the part to be picked with some from unused feeders. Hopefully this will provide a hint of where the problem lies. I think that in one instance there might have been too much downward pressure applied to the paper tape/cover tape combo by the sliding metal leaf "thingy".